FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to meat processing machinery and particularly to meat macerating apparatus wherein a comb of a plurality of rigid arms is supplied, wherein the arms are highly resistent to deformation and perform the function of compressing meat to be macerated, and further of stripping the compressed meat from between the blades.
PRIOR ART
Meat processing apparatus has frequently involved a slotted pressure plate which bears upon a piece of meat as it is engaged by rotating circular blades extending through slots in the plate. The pressure elements have at times taken the form of arcuate rods, having a circular cross-section, which rods are welded to supports at opposite ends. When the supports are removed from the processing machine, they often are carelessly mishandled and the rods are deformed so that they lose the uniformity of space normally existing between them. Such deformed rods do not properly engage the meat between the cutter blades and do not compress that meat so that it may be macerated by the circular cutter blades. Instead, the deflected rods of the comb permits the meat to be macerated unequally by compressing it unequally for the action of the blades. Even though the comb of rods is rigidly welded to the transverse supports, the rods were often deformed. In the interest of achieving a high degree of uniformity in macerating meats, it was sought to develop an arm to function as a meat compressor and stripper which was highly resistent to deformation. Thus various forms of arms were devised, were welded to sustaining bars at each end but these arms were found to be subject to deformation during handling.